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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28327902">friends for (after)life</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/artenon/pseuds/artenon'>artenon</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Julie and The Phantoms (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Established Relationship, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, Post-Canon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:49:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,523</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28327902</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/artenon/pseuds/artenon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Life is still moving forward for Alex in a way it hasn’t for Willie. But maybe it doesn’t have to stay that way?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>89</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>jatpdaily secret santa 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>friends for (after)life</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my jatpdaily secret santa gift for illbeyourreasonwhy on tumblr! I hope you like it! :)</p><p>Thanks as always to my beta sarah for being awesome!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They’re practicing—or, they’re supposed to be practicing. Flynn and Julie’s dad had combined forces as the band’s managers and booked them a gig at the Roxy. It’s coming up sooner rather than later, they’ve hammered out the setlist, and all that’s left to do is practice.</p><p>But right now, Alex is finding it hard to focus on practice with Willie sitting on the couch, grinning at him and bobbing his head to the beat.</p><p>At least, he’d be bobbing his head to the beat if Alex wasn’t messing up, <em>again</em>.</p><p>“C’mon, man!” Luke says, shooting Alex a look. He doesn’t look angry so much as pouty, probably because their songs are Luke’s babies and Alex is doing them a disservice with his distracted playing.</p><p>Alex holds up his hands. “Sorry, sorry.”</p><p>“Take five?” Reggie says.</p><p>“Actually, yes,” Julie says. “I’ve been wanting a snack for ages.”</p><p>“Yes,” Flynn says, jumping up from where she’s seated at the opposite end of the couch from Willie. She claps her hands. “We’ll take a break and then have a perfect run-through of the set!”</p><p>“Okay, so we’re going back to the house,” Julie says. “Are you guys gonna stay here?”</p><p>“Yeah, we’ll be here,” Reggie says, mournfully. “Missing you.”</p><p>Julie rolls her eyes. “We’ll be back in a bit. C’mon, Flynn.”</p><p>She waves at them, including to where she knows Willie is seated on the couch, though Alex knows she can’t see him. Flynn, who hasn’t been able to see any of them since they stopped playing music, also waves.</p><p>Willie stands after Julie closes the garage door behind her and wanders towards the band’s set-up. “You guys have some pretty sweet tunes.”</p><p>Luke preens. Alex can’t blame him, because he’s pretty sure he’s preening, too.</p><p>“Julie’s the real star,” Luke says loyally. “We’re writing even more than we did when we weren’t ghosts.”</p><p>“And you’re performing on Saturday, right?” Willie asks. </p><p>Reggie points at him and clicks his tongue. “Tell your friends!”</p><p>A pinched expression flits across Willie’s face, there and gone again. Alex clenches his fists around his drumsticks, as if that will stave off the sudden clenching of his heart.</p><p>“Well, I’ll definitely be there on Saturday,” Willie says, and he sounds sincere, but Alex thinks his smile isn’t quite reaching his eyes anymore.</p><p>“Hey Luke, didn’t you say you wanted to shoot some hoops earlier?” Alex says, maybe a touch too loudly, and gives him a meaningful look.</p><p>And good thing Luke knows how to take a hint, even if Alex has to lay it on thick, because his eyes widen and he says, “Yes, I did say that! Reggie, let’s go.”</p><p>Reggie makes a confused noise, but thankfully lets Luke drag him out through the garage door.</p><p>Alex turns to Willie, licking his lips nervously because he knows what he just did wasn’t subtle in the least. Willie doesn’t seem to be looking at him, though, his eyes distant, lost in thought.</p><p>“Hey,” Alex says, twisting his fingers together, hesitant to reach out. “You okay?”</p><p>“Yeah…” Willie pauses and seems to pull himself together. “Yeah, man, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”</p><p>“Of course I worry.” Alex bites his lip. God, this shouldn’t be so embarrassing to say. They’ve been on dates. They’ve even kissed, though it was just once, a few nights ago in LA. They hiked up to the Hollywood sign even though they could’ve just poofed to the top, holding hands the whole way, and kissed for the first time under the stars.</p><p>Ugh, screw it. Alex reaches out and takes both of Willie’s hands in his. “I care about you. And we’re…” He clears his throat. “...dating, so if something is bothering you, I’d like to know. If you want to tell me. You don’t have to tell me.” An unpleasant thought strikes him. “Unless it’s me? Did I do something?”</p><p>Willie squeezes his hands. “You’re perfect, Alex,” he says, and Alex gets a pleased, squirmy feeling in his stomach. “I’ve been having a really great time with you.”</p><p>The squirmy feeling flips from pleasure to dread, and Alex’s mouth goes dry. “Why does it sound like there’s a ‘but’ in that sentence?”</p><p>“It’s not…” Willie trails off. “I was just thinking that you three are really lucky to have each other, that you’re lucky to have your best friends with you. I don’t have any friends. For a long time, until you came along, I just had Caleb. And it was fun at his club, and it was fun doing whatever I wanted the rest of the time, but, yeah…”</p><p>“It must’ve been lonely,” Alex realizes.</p><p>Willie doesn’t quite meet his gaze as he nods.</p><p>Aside from the basics of how he died, Willie’s never talked about his past life with Alex. Alex doesn’t even know how long he’s been a ghost, if there’s still anyone in the living world that he knows. Not that it’d matter if there was—they wouldn’t be able to see him, and he wouldn’t be able to talk to them.</p><p>Alex doesn’t press. That’s Willie’s personal business, after all, and it’s not like Alex has talked much about his past life, either. Though that’s mostly because he feels like he has a lot going on in his present. He still has Luke and Reggie, yeah, but now he has Julie, too, and even Flynn, who is always making new attempts and communicating with Alex and the others. They have a little whiteboard they keep in the garage now, though it’s not great for extended conversations.</p><p>The point is, life is still moving forward for him in a way it hasn’t for Willie.</p><p>But maybe it doesn’t have to stay that way?</p><p>“Well, you know,” Alex says, sidling to the side and trying to catch Willie’s gaze, “I’m your friend now.”</p><p>Willie looks at him and crooks a smile. “Yeah, I guess you are.”</p><p>“Of course I am!” Alex says. “And Reggie and Luke wanna be friends with you, too.”</p><p>“Aw,” Willie says. “That’s only because I can show them cool ghost tricks.” He tugs one of his hands out of Alex’s hold and wiggles his fingers.</p><p>“Well, that too,” Alex says with a grin. “No, but seriously, they’d love to hang out with you. I mean it. You don’t just have to come see us at band practice.”</p><p>“Thank you,” Willie says. “I… yeah, I’d like that.”</p><p>“Great.” Alex squeezes Willie’s hands, both in comfort and relief. “Then how about we go kick their butts in Horse?”</p><p>“Only if you’re prepared for me to kick yours, too,” Willie replies, and there’s the big, full grin Alex is quickly falling in love with.</p><p>“I’ll have you know, I’m amazing at basketball,” Alex says, a blatant lie.</p><p>They join Luke and Reggie outside the garage to find them already playing Horse. At least, Alex assumes that’s why Reggie is facing away from the net and lobbing the basketball over his head without looking. He misses his mark by a wide margin, and Willie ends up catching the ball.</p><p>“R!” Luke crows.</p><p>“Dang it.” Reggie turns around. “Oh, hey! I swear Luke just got lucky on his shot.”</p><p>“Nah, admit it, I’m awesome.”</p><p>“Okay,” Willie says. “But can you do this?”</p><p>He busts into a series of complicated dance moves that transitions into a seamless shot.</p><p>Reggie whoops. “Nothin’ but net!”</p><p>Alex laughs and grabs the ball. He does, in his modest opinion, a flawless imitation of Willie’s dance. Unfortunately, his shot bounces off the edge of the backboard. Luke darts forward to catch the rebound, then frowns, holding the basketball.</p><p>“I forgot how it went already.”</p><p>He starts dancing. He must be making things up where he’s forgotten the moves, because Alex doesn’t remember Willie doing anything like that, and has just completed a twirl when Julie’s bright laughter stops him in his tracks.</p><p>“What the heck are you doing?”</p><p>“Playing Horse, duh,” Luke says, looking mildly embarrassed about it.</p><p>“Ah.” Julie nods. “I presume Alex was the one busting the moves?”</p><p>“Willie, actually,” Alex says. When Julie turns to him, he points to Willie on his left.</p><p>Julie grins and waves in his direction. “Nice, Willie!”</p><p>Willie grins and waves back, despite knowing she can’t see him. He seems lighter, somehow, than Alex has ever seen him. Like there was a tension in his shoulders that’s finally eased. He looks really happy, and it fills Alex’s chest to see.</p><p>Alex tilts his head up, eyes prickling. He is seriously not about to cry right now, nope.</p><p>“What’s going on?” Flynn says.</p><p>“They’re playing Horse,” Julie says.</p><p>“Oh, I’m in,” Flynn says. “Though it’s basically going to turn into a game of telephone with all the translation needed. This is either going to rock or it’s going to suck.”</p><p>“Maybe even both,” Reggie says, and Julie echoes him for Flynn.</p><p>Willie nudges Alex with his shoulder. “Hey,” he says quietly. “Thanks.”</p><p>Alex looks at him, thankful that the brief pressure behind his eyes has subsided. “For what?”</p><p>“For being great.”</p><p>“Oh, well.” Alex ducks his head bashfully. “You know, I try.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading! You can find me on <a href="https://qorktrees.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a>!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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